Assessment Of Difficult Airway Predictors: A Prospective Comparison Of Upper Airway Ultrasound And Conventional Anthropometric Measures
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- This is an observational study: the protocol does not assign a study treatment.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Prediction of Difficult Airway, Difficult Airway Intubation. Basic parameters: 18 years — 99 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Turkey (Türkiye)
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Overview
This prospective observational study aims to evaluate whether upper airway ultrasound measurements can improve the prediction of difficult airway compared with conventional anthropometric assessments. Adult patients undergoing elective procedures requiring airway management will be included. Ultrasound parameters such as tongue thickness, anterior neck soft tissue thickness, and hyomental distance will be measured before airway intervention. Standard clinical predictors (Mallampati score, thyromental distance, neck circumference, etc.) will also be recorded. The primary objective is to determine the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound-based measurements in predicting difficult laryngoscopy and intubation. The study seeks to provide evidence supporting the integration of upper airway ultrasound into routine pre-anesthetic airway evaluation.
Primary outcome measures
- Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound airway measurements for predicting difficult mask ventilation [Time frame: Preoperative assessment (within 1 hour before induction of anesthesia)]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Adults aged 18-99 years
- Patients scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia
- ASA Physical Status I-III
- Able to provide informed consent
- Undergoing preoperative airway evaluation
Exclusion criteria
- \- Emergency surgery cases
- Age <18 years
- ASA Physical Status IV-V
- Pregnant or breastfeeding patients
- Patients with limited cooperation or inability to provide consent
- Known anatomical airway anomalies or previous major neck surgery
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Observational model
- Cohort
Study locations
Turkey (Türkiye) · 1 center
- Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi — Ankara
Publications
- Rastogi A, Singh AK, Srivastava D, Kannaujia AK, Singh TK, Mishra P. Evaluation of ultrasound measured tongue thickness, tongue thickness-thyromental distance ratio, and skin-to-epiglottis distance in predicting unanticipated difficult laryngoscopy. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol. 2025 Jan-Mar;41(1):151-157. doi: 10.4103/joacp.joacp_423_23. Epub 2025 Jan 23. PMID 40026745
- Yao W, Wang B. Can tongue thickness measured by ultrasonography predict difficult tracheal intubation? Br J Anaesth. 2017 Apr 1;118(4):601-609. doi: 10.1093/bja/aex051. PMID 28403413
- Roth D, Pace NL, Lee A, Hovhannisyan K, Warenits AM, Arrich J, Herkner H. Airway physical examination tests for detection of difficult airway management in apparently normal adult patients. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 May 15;5(5):CD008874. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD008874.pub2. PMID 29761867
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07309978 · AEŞH-EK-2-25-276